paternity leave discrimination can my employer fire me while on paternity leave law right attorney lawyer lawsuit

Were you fired while you were on paternity leave? If you were terminated while you were taking paternity leave, you might have grounds to pursue a claim. That is, your termination might be a violation of both state and federal laws, and you might have grounds to sue your employer.

If you were terminated and are interested in exploring the possibility of taking legal action against your employer, do not hesitate to seek legal assistance immediately. Based on the details of your claim, you might have grounds to recover monetary compensation for the losses associated with your sudden and unjust termination. For more information about your right to take action against your employer after being terminated while on paternity leave, do not hesitate to contact the experts at our law firm immediately.

At California Labor Law Employment Attorneys Group, our lawyers have many years of experience handling all sorts of employment claims, including paternity leave discrimination and wrongful termination claims. Our lawyers are ready to provide you with all the guidance that you need to take action against your employer. If you are ready to discuss your current situation with the experts at our firm, do not hesitate to contact California Labor Law Employment Attorney Group today.

About Paternity Leave

Many people are familiar with the concept of maternity leave – the time a woman takes off from work after the birth of a child (or under other circumstances). Generally, women are the ones who go on leave; however, men also have the right to go on leave. Men have the right to go on paternity leave; they have the right to take time off from work after the birth of a child (or under different circumstances). Unfortunately, the men who go on paternity leave are often subjected to unfair treatment.

The Laws and Your Right to Paternity Leave

Paternity leave is a basic right. It is a right protected by a number of laws both on the federal and state levels. These laws include the following:

  • The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA): a federal law that provides eligible employees with the right to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for a number of reasons, including but not limited to the birth of a child or the adoption of a child.
  • The California Family Rights Act (CFRA): a state law that provides eligible employees the right to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid paternity leave.
  • The New Parent Leave Act: a law that also provides employees with the right to take up to 12 weeks of paternity leave; however, it applies to smaller employers (those with 20 to 49 employees).

Employees interested in taking paternity leave must provide their employers with a notice of their intent to take leave. They must provide their employers with information on the expected timeframe in which the leave is to begin, the expected duration of the leave, as well as facts making the employer aware that paternity leave will be needed (i.e. informing the employer of the pregnancy).

After going on paternity leave, employees have the right to be reinstated. Even if the employee’s original position was replaced or restructured, the employee has the right to be reinstated to the same position or a comparable position.

For more information about the laws that protect employees’ right to take paternity leave, do not hesitate to seek legal assistance with the experts at our law firms as soon as possible.

Termination While on Paternity Leave

Although employees have the right to go on paternity leave, many employers simply fire employees on paternity leave. If you were fired while you were on paternity leave, your termination might have been discriminatory. If your termination was discriminatory, you might have grounds to take legal action against your employer.

However, just because you were fired while you were on paternity leave doesn’t mean that your termination was unlawful. For example, your employer could have begun an investigation into your work performance prior to your leave with the conclusion being reached, coincidentally, while you were on leave. Although you were technically on leave at the time of your termination, the termination had nothing to due with your leave, but rather your work performance.

Without a doubt, facing a sudden termination could be difficult for you and your entire family. If you suspect that your termination was illegal, you should seek legal assistance as soon as possible.

What are Your Options?

If you were unjustly terminated while you were on paternity leave, there are a number of things that you could do to hold your employer accountable for their illegal actions against you. What could you do? You actually have a few options.

Consider the following:

  • You could pursue a claim with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The EEOC is a federal employment agency that enforces federal employment laws and handles employment claims when they arise. You could file a claim with the EEOC after your termination. The EEOC will investigate the situation and take action against the employer if the investigation determines that the employer violated federal employment laws.
  • You could pursue a claim with the Department of Fair Housing and Employment (DFEH). The DFEH is a state employment agency in California that enforces state employment laws and manages employment claims when they arise. You could file a claim with the DFEH after being terminated. The DFEH will investigate your claim and act against the employer if the investigation concludes that there was a violation of state employment laws.
  • You could pursue a civil lawsuit against your employer. After filing a claim with the EEOC or the DFEH, the claim will be investigated, and the appropriate agency will come to a conclusion. Upon concluding the investigation, you will be automatically granted the right to sue; however, you could request the right to sue at any time during the investigation process. If you are granted the right to sue, you could contact an employment attorney and begin the process of filing a civil lawsuit against your employer.

For more information about each of these options available to you after being unlawfully terminated while on paternity leave, do not hesitate to contact our law firm at your earliest convenience.

You Could Receive Compensation

Without a doubt, you might have grounds to take legal action against your employer if you were wrongfully terminated simply because you took paternity leave. Depending on the details surrounding your claim, you might also have grounds to recover monetary compensation for the losses resulting from the termination.

How much compensation could you be eligible to receive? What type of compensation could you be awarded? It is normal to have these questions; however, only an experienced employment attorney can provide you with the answers that you need (as the type and amount of compensation that you could be eligible to receive will always depend on the details surrounding your claim).

You could be eligible to receive some of the following compensation based on the details surrounding your claim:

  • Lost income: for all the wages that you lost as a direct result of being terminated
  • Lost benefits: for the benefits, such as medical insurance, stock options, and retirement options, lost as a result of the termination
  • Pain and suffering: for the mental and emotional distress associated with your termination
  • Punitive damages: awarded as a form of punishment towards the employer and to deter similar incidents from recurring

Depending on the outcome of you claim, reinstatement might also be an option. That is, you might be able to get your job back after reaching a successful claim outcome. This is not always the best option, however, specifically because the strenuous legal process could result in hostility from the employer and other employees.

Is there a guarantee regarding the type and amount of compensation that you could be eligible to receive? As mentioned above, the type and amount of compensation that you could be eligible to recover strictly depends on the details of your claim; therefore, you shouldn’t expect to be eligible to recover a specific amount (based on a review of past cases, for example). Rather, you should discuss your claim with an attorney for an in-depth evaluation of your claim and information on the potential value of your claim.

When you allow our wrongful termination experts to handle your claim, you can be certain that there will always be someone aggressively fighting for your right to recover the compensation that you deserve. For more information, do not hesitate to contact our law firm today.

Taking Action withing the Appropriate Time Limits

As previously explained, there are a few different options available to you in terms of taking action against your employer. You could pursue a claim through the EEOC or the DFEH, for example. You could also pursue a civil lawsuit against your employer. It is important that you are familiar with the specific deadlines relevant to each of your options.

Consider the following:

  • Californian employees have 300 days to file a claim with the EEOC (a shorter deadline of 180 days applies in states without employment agencies)
  • Californian employees have 1 year to file a claim with the DFEH
  • Californian employees who have requested and received the right to sue have either 90 days (after receiving the right to sue from the EEOC) or 1 year (after receiving the right to sue from the DFEH) to file their civil lawsuits

What happens if you fail to file your claim within the appropriate length of time? Unfortunately, failing to take action promptly can result in losing the right to take any action altogether. If you would like to learn more about the total length of time that you have to take action against your employer, do not hesitate to contact our firm at your earliest convenience.

Contact California Labor Law Employment Attorneys Group Today

Were you the victim of discrimination because you took or requested to take paternity leave? As an employee, you have a number of rights that are protected by both state and federal laws. Unfortunately, many employers disregard the rights of their employees and even subject them to poor treatment when they exercise or attempt to exercise their rights.

If you were fired while you were on paternity leave, you might have grounds to take legal action against your employer, given that you were fired only because you were on paternity leave (there are a number of reasons why termination could be lawful even while on paternity leave). If you were fired simply because you exercised your right to paternity leave, you might have grounds to take legal action against your employer and even recover monetary compensation.

To learn more about your right to take legal action against your employer for the paternity leave discrimination and wrongful termination that you suffered, do not hesitate to seek legal assistance with the employment attorneys at California Labor Law Employment Attorneys Group at your earliest convenience. California Labor Law Employment Attorneys Group is a law firm dedicated to handling all types of employment claims. Our employment attorneys are committed to representing all affected employees and guiding them towards a successful claim outcome – helping them recover the compensation that they are owed.

At California Labor Law Employment Attorneys Group, our experts are dedicated to representing all employees that have been wrongfully terminated. To remain accessible to all affected parties, our firm offers free legal services. Our free legal services include both free consultations and free second opinions. During these free legal services, our paternity discrimination attorneys will be available to answer all your questions, address all your concerns, and essentially provide you with all the assistance that you might need to either start or continue your claim against your employer. If you would like to benefit from the free legal services available at our firm, do not hesitate to contact our firm at your earliest convenience.

Our firm offers a Zero-Fee guarantee that ensures that our clients are not required to pay any upfront legal fees for any of our legal services. Our firm is also strictly based on contingency. What does this mean? Because our firm is based on a strict contingency structure, our clients will never be required to pay any legal fees until after reaching a successful claim outcome.

If you are ready to discuss your paternity leave discrimination claim with our employment experts, do not hesitate to contact California Labor Law Employment Attorneys Group as soon as possible.

Client Testimonials

FREE CONSULTATION

FREE CONSULTATION

      Available 24/7            Immediate Response            Experienced Lawyers     

Available 24/7 Immediate Response

Employment site - Free Consultation

Name

OVER $500 MILLION RECOVERED

© - California Labor Law Employment Attorneys Group

The information on this website is for general information purposes only. Nothing on this site should be taken as legal advice for any individual case or situation. This information is not intended to create, and receipt or viewing does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship.